The entertainment news world has devoted a lot of chatter to the making of and fallout from Kevin Costner’s ambitious multi-part Western, “Horizon: An American Saga.” The outsized interest in this ongoing project is understandable: Costner invested millions of his own dollars into the production of these films and Warner Bros. planned to release them in theaters, but after the first one bombed at the box office, the studio indefinitely pulled the release of the completed second film (which was supposed to hit theaters today), and a new report claims production on the third movie has not restarted due to “financing issues.” The second movie is premiering at this year’s Venice Film Festival, and it seems like the franchise’s future hangs in the balance. That’s a higher-than-normal amount of off-screen drama.
“Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1” has already made its way to VOD, where it has found some success with Costner’s audience of older folks who weren’t willing to return to see his latest adventure in theaters. But as of today, we know when the film will be streaming, which could open it up to a much wider audience of people who are curious about the co-writer/director’s grand vision for this sprawling Western.
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 will be streaming on Max
Warner Bros. announced today that the first chapter of “Horizon” will make it streaming debut on Friday, August 23, exclusively on the Max streaming service.
With all of the talk about the circumstances surrounding the movie, is the film itself any good? Well, /Film’s Jeremy Mathai called it “the most expensive trailer for a sequel ever made” because of the movie’s unconventional structure and especially its ending (which is literally a montage of footage from “Chapter 2” and potentially beyond). “Deliberate and restrained to a fault, ‘Chapter 1’ is caught between its own sense of grandeur and the oddly impersonal stakes of its sprawling story,” he wrote.
Here’s the thing: I agree with all of Jeremy’s criticisms, but I still think the movie is worth watching. It absolutely has a weird structure and in sections of its three-hour runtime, it feels like you’re watching an episode of a TV show. But it’s also pretty beautiful to look at, the performances are mostly strong across the board, and it’s refreshing to watch something that doesn’t feel like it’s been focus-grouped to within an inch of its life. It also does a great job of tackling familiar Western themes: cycles of violence, the consequences one violent action can beget, and the cyclical nature of revenge. In any case, Max subscribers will be able to see it for themselves one week from today.
Here’s the film’s official synopsis:
In the great tradition of Warner Bros. Pictures’ iconic Westerns, “Horizon: An American Saga” explores the lure of the Old West and how it was won—and lost—through the blood, sweat and tears of many. Spanning the four years of the Civil War, from 1861 to 1865, Costner’s ambitious cinematic adventure will take audiences on an emotional journey across a country at war with itself, experienced through the lens of families, friends, and foes all attempting to discover what it truly means to be the United States of America.